User Introduction: Aeternis
Greetings, fellow Steemit users.
I don't know too much about this community yet; it was recommended to me by a person more knowledgeable in the social content network space than myself. So far, it seems to be an interesting place, but I'm still exploring. I'm not sure what people usually put in these introduction posts, so I'm just going to do what I do best: Throw text at the screen and see what sticks.
About
My name is, at least on the internet, Aeternis. I'm a software engineer from the United States, but I will probably never post here about my life in the software trenches. In the time I don't spend at the office, I write fiction, and this community seems like a good place to share it. Most of this will be original science fiction, but I can't say for sure that there won't be anything from another genre occasionally.
At the moment, I'm working on a manuscript (my second) for a novel about interstellar pirates which I have yet to title despite sinking almost sixty thousand words into it, and I am also working on a web-based fiction project, Cosmic Background, which is, at least so far, a lot smaller.
Though I've been writing on and off for some time, I don't really have much of an audience because I haven't made much of my content available for public consumption. I've always been a little bit suspicious of social networks, but I am grudgingly forced to admit that they're not going anywhere, and that for a writer, they can be quite useful. I do also mean to be a consumer of content on this site, once I get my bearings.
Content
A lot of my posts on Steemit will probably be excerpts from my Cosmic Background effort; a big part of it is told as a series of short stories about the experiences of "interstellar professionals" in the distant future. I'll try to remember to link back to the full project on these posts, in case anyone is curious enough to click through. I will probably also post a few oddball short stories here, as I write them or rediscover them buried in the three cloud accounts that support my writing habit.
If you read and like my posts, feel free to let me know it, but if you don't like them, I would appreciate it if you let me know why that is. Well thought out criticism is extremely valuable, especially to a part-time writer like myself, even if it's just a few sentences.
Writing on the Wall
The system tells me that it's traditional to post a picture of myself with the date and my username written on a piece of paper, to prove that I am not a bot. I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for a decent, white sheet of paper and a sharpie with which to perform this ritual, but all I found were neon markers, so there was a little bit of improvisation involved. While I can't definitively prove that I'm not a robot, I can at least prove I have mediocre handwriting and a basic ability to hang store-bought photography prints:
Hello aeternis! Welcome to Steemit! Hope you'll like the community here. As a start, here are 5 tips that we believe will be helpful to you:
For a detailed writeup, check our post Getting Started: 5 Essential Tips for New Users.
Good luck on your Steem journey! Follow us if you like to receive more helpful tips and maximize your Steemit experience.
✅ @aeternis, I gave you an upvote on your post! Please give me a follow and I will give you a follow in return and possible future votes!
Thank you in advance!
Welcome to Steem, @aeternis!
I am a bot coded by the SteemPlus team to help you make the best of your experience on the Steem Blockchain!
SteemPlus is a Chrome, Opera and Firefox extension that adds tons of features on Steemit.
It helps you see the real value of your account, who mentionned you, the value of the votes received, a filtered and sorted feed and much more! All of this in a fast and secure way.
To see why 3144 Steemians use SteemPlus, install our extension, read the documentation or the latest release : SteemPlus 2.17.8 : Rewards and Links tabs on Busy.
Welcome to Steem! Partiko is a fast and beautiful mobile app for Steem and we upvote our users to help them grow! Please feel free to download the Android app here and the iOS app here.
To get more upvotes, please join our Discord server here: https://discord.gg/N7Et97G
Hi @aeternis. I am glad with your presence in Steemit. I wish you the best! Hope you gonna have fun with our community and see you soon!!
Hi
I did this the wrong way around, because your latest post appeared on my New Posts feed, therefore you'll find some nitpicking from me, because your explanations are back here...
You do not need to post your personal info and photo, it is only needed if you are making certain claims where your true identity is required. I've never even done an intro post.
My misunderstandings come from the fact that you keep titling your stories "Short story". Only when I arrive a t the end of the story do I see it is not the end....
I suggest you do not post stories with the idea that readers will click on your link that takes them out of Steemit. Only a few die-hard fans will do so. Also, please, as you did in your latest, mention that there are sequels, or else we have to presume there is not and the story loses the impact it should achieve.
Since you did ask that criticisms are kept short, I'll stop now
:)
Thanks for the response. While I don't agree that a short story always needs a clean, completely resolved ending, I do realize that the sample size I've posted so far is mostly pieces with somewhat open endings. Not everything I write is like that, but a portion of it is; I'll try to mix things up a little bit in the future. I do plan on continuing to use the phrase "short story", however, unless the content is extremely short - in those cases, I might use the phrase "flash fiction" instead.
As a reader, I have always had a soft spot for short stories which resolved only the main plot point, and left things somewhat unresolved otherwise, even to the extent of resolving the main plot point with the introduction of a bigger one (which is less part of the current story than an implied part of the next one, whether or not the writer is the one to provide the next story). It is, in a sense, as if the writer is leaving room for the reader to take over the characters when they put the pen - or keyboard - down. That is not the only formula, or even the most successful, when it comes to writing shorts, but it is one of the story structures I reach for when I'm starting something new and nothing specific comes to mind.
Some longer pieces use the same formula, whether or not a sequel is intended; for example, the novel Time Travelers Never Die by Jack McDevitt ends in this manner, and McDevitt does not seem to have ever intended to write a sequel. It's an amazing book all the same.
If you don't think I resolved the main plot point of a short piece in a satisfactory manner (and it's certainly possible), feel free to comment and suggest what happens next, or create your own post where you continue the story to what you think would be a more satisfactory ending. I'll be happy to give such content upvotes and I would also likely provide links to your posts from my own, provided it was within the standards I set for my own content (PG-13 rating equivalent, written in English, decent though not necessarily perfect spelling and grammar, etc).
Welcome to Steemit @aeternis!
I wish you much success and hope you find Steemit to be as rewarding and informative as I have.
Here are some links you might find useful.
Your stats on SteemNow
Your stats on SteemWorld
Your stats on SteemD
How does Steemit actually work?
Oh yea, I have upvoted you and followed you. Many blessings!
@intro.bot you're on the @abusereports naughty list!
Bad Steemian! Bad!
@transparencybot you're on the @abusereports naughty list for being a super douche!
Bad Steemian! Bad!
Vote for witness @nextgencrypto!
Thank you for the free promotion @transparencybot and @bycoleman (butthurt beotch)!
@transparencybot (@bycoleman) you're on the @abusereports naughty list for being a super douche! Go back to fucking yourself!
Bad Steemian! Bad!
Vote for witness @nextgencrypto!
Thank you for the free promotion @transparencybot and @bycoleman!